The day was another cold and wet day, but the wind wasn't too bad. Amazing how removing one of those three elements can make things better. We made our way through lock #10 and carried on with a pretty good pace.
As we approached a turn we saw a tug coming up the channel so we moved over to the inside of the river. Much to our surprise he continued to come straight toward us! We were well out of the marked channel, but now he was as well. We were still a hundred yards ahead of him when he finally turned into the shore and started lowering a ramp. This is when we figured out the it was a ferry. Two cars drove up on it and one of the crew walked toward what looked to be a bathroom. We decided that this would be a good time to try and go behind it. After we were already committed to crossing behind it, the engines engaged. So we paddled hard to finish getting around before he backed up. All very nerve racking. Once he pulled out, and returned to the channel, we kinda raced parallel with him in the channel and us to the side. We kept up pretty well with our little head start, but he was just about to nose ahead of us when he turned off to the other shore to unload. An exhilarating and slightly freighting experience altogether.
We made another mile or two down the river before calling it a day. We made twenty-eight miles dispute the cold and rain, and made camp on the Iowa side just south of Cassville, WI.
We are glad you are well and in Iowa, keep on truckin. We are mapping you in class. We hope that Hurricane Sandy does not effect you but but we are getting dumped on and its very cold here. Please stay warm and put Lily's blanket on her. Please include as many names of villages and town to help us track you. We have a lock map and are tracking you that way also.
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